ABOUT THIS BLOG:This blog is intended to cover topics of interest to me about stories which often fly under the radar but which I think require wider media coverage. To this end, some basic criteria (likely to increase over time) for stories are:
- Stories about disasters that are occurring in the world which are not being widely reported.
- People who work hard but are often overlooked for their efforts.
- Stories of resilience and recovery.
- Stories of bravery.

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Tariq Jahan calls for calm

On the night of Tuesday, 9th August, 2011, Tariq Jahan lost his son in the UK riots. This is what he said to the press afterwards:

My name is Tariq Jahan. I’ve come to speak for what happened to my son. His name was Haroon Jahan.

I’m not no professional TV man, but what I have to say I’ve written down, and if you can understand, we should be able to get along.

Last night, we lost three cherished members of our community. They were taken from us in a way that not father, mother, sister, brother should have to endure.

Today, we stand here, to plead with all the youth to remain calm, for our communities to stand united.

As we stand here today, this is not a race issue. The family has received messages of sympathy and support from all parts of the community – all faiths, all colours and backgrounds.

Please respect the memory of our sons, and the grief of our family and loved ones by staying away from trouble, and not going out tonight.

Basically, I lost my son. Blacks, asians, whites, we all live in the same community. Why do we have to kill one another? What started these riots, and what’s escalated, why are we doing this? I lost my son. Step forward if you want to lose your sons. Otherwise, calm down and go home – please.

And last, to all those people who were there, when the incident took place, I was there too, I know who you guys are. Please come forward. I need witnesses to prove that my son was innocent, and the two other chaps that died with him for no reason. Please, I beg you, come forward. You guys know me, I know you. We were all there together, please come forward.